This invention relates to scrapers, and more particularly to an improved, hand-held scraper for removing ice and snow from windshields and the like.
Recently, hand-held ice scrapers made of a flat, single piece of polymeric material such as polymethacrylate have become widely available. These scrapers comprise an elongate body defining top and bottom surfaces spaced about 7 mm apart and defining a wide scraper blade at one end thereof comprising an oblique surface extending from the top surface toward the bottom surface and terminating in a scraping edge. From the blade section, the body tapers inwardly defining opposed converging edges. A pliable, polymeric sheath envelops the end remote from the scraping blade and covers about two-thirds of the linear extent of the ice scraper to serve as a hand grip.
It is a requirement for efficient scraping that such prior art scrapers be held at an angle to the surface to be scraped with the scraping edge in contact therewith, and simultaneously be forced in a direction parallel to the surface. However, the design of these scrapers makes the simultaneous application of the required forces difficult. In addition, the scraper's handle is too wide to enable the user to obtain a good grip, and during use, the user's fingers, gripping the scraper handle, are positioned for undesirable and potentially injurious contact with the ice or windshield. Furthermore, the scraper design and the forces of the scraping action tend to throw ice or snow up onto the hand of the user.
In addition to these manipulation problems, ice scrapers of the type described also suffer from a short useful lifetime, owing to the fragile nature of the scraping edge. In this regard, where the oblique surface and the bottom surface meet, a thin, structurally inadequate scraping edge is defined. During use, the edge becomes chipped, and thereafter, the scraper leaves streaks on the windshield surface.